Man Learns That Carnival Games Are Not A Sound Investment, Loses Life Savings

Sure, sometimes it might feel like you’re playing a rigged carnival game when you open up your 401(k) statement, but that’s not really the case. Just about any investment is a wise one, though, compared to what a New Hampshire man did with his life’s savings. After spending $300 trying to win an Xbox Kinect at a fair, he did the fiscally prudent thing: he stopped playing and went home. How nice would it be if this story just stopped there?

It does not. The man says that he was frustrated enough that he picked up his life savings, $2,300, and invested it in the carnival game. The game, called “Tubs of Fun,” is simple: you throw a ball into a tub. That seems easy enough, but after his free practice rounds, the man couldn’t get the ball to stay in the tub. That’s why he began raising the stakes. Double or nothing! “You just get caught up in the whole ‘I’ve got to win my money back’,” he told CBS Boston.

Instead, he lost $2,600 of it, and doesn’t even have an Xbox to show for his trouble. He does have a giant stuffed banana with dreadlocks, which is something. Not something worth $2,600, but it’s something.

He returned to the game the next day and got $600 back, but the rest is gone. Instead of buying an Xbox to console himself, he contacted the police and local news media to tell his story and accuse the carnival operator of running rigged games. The outcome of a midway game is in some way unfair? I am shocked. Shocked!